FAA Pushes To Recruit Workers With Psychiatric Disabilities

(DailyVantage.com) – The Federal Aviation Administration is pushing a recruitment effort for people with diagnosed psychiatric problems in an ongoing effort to make the FAA more inclusive in its hiring practices. The agency announced the push towards inclusivity and diversity on its diversity webpage, where it cited safety and diversity as “critical” concerns of the FAA. The FAA also shared information about its People With Disabilities program, which offers people with psychiatric disabilities opportunities for employment.

Among the disabilities featured in the People with Disabilities program is “targeted disabilities,” which the FAA intends to focus on with its inclusive hiring method. The targeted disabilities include hearing and vision problems, missing limbs, both partial and complete paralysis, several mental deficiencies, dwarfism, and epilepsy. While many Americans believe the FAA’s push towards diversity poses a danger to passengers traveling on aircraft, the agency defended its push towards inclusive hiring practices by referring to a quote from Pete Buttigieg, President Biden’s transportation secretary.

In the quote featured on the FAA’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility page, Buttigieg says that transportation is a “powerful engine” for opportunity, which “connects people to jobs” despite where they may live. Buttigieg also noted that the White House considers equity for traveling members of the American public to be one of the Department of Transportation’s most important concerns. Despite Democrats having a positive opinion about Buttigieg’s service as the Secretary of Transportation, Republicans in the House of Representatives are outwardly opposing his controversial policies.

The House of Representatives recently approved a measure to reduce Buttigieg’s annual salary to $1 due to his “failures” as Biden’s transportation secretary. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced the measure to the House, citing Buttigieg’s infamous bike ride controversy and his use of private planes for personal reasons as examples of why Buttigieg doesn’t deserve his usual salary. Although the measure against Buttigieg succeeded in the House, he will remain the transport secretary for the foreseeable future.

The FAA’s push towards inclusive hiring practices and diversity amongst its workforce is ramping up; some reports indicate that the shift towards the new hiring practices began years ago. In the summer of 2018, an aviation attorney claimed that the FAA places diversity over the public safety of travelers while discussing the hiring policies surrounding air traffic controllers. The aviation attorney shared his claims on Fox News during an interview with Tucker Carlson, but the story didn’t gain widespread attention until the FAA shared its new hiring policies with the general public.

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